Today, I'm going to provide a list of players who could be very valuable to your fantasy team next season. These are all players who have been put in a position to succeed in the upcoming season. If you're anything like me then you probably can't wait for October so the NBA can start back up again. We have had an exciting draft with a lot of potential along with a great amount of trades and signings that have truly reshaped the NBA.
Please note the below list of players are not in any order. I would like to draft them all if possible and I can't say who will be the best out of the list. You decide who you like the most and move them up in your rankings accordingly.
D'Angelo Russell
Ever since he's been traded from the Lakers, I've constantly been reading reports of Russell staying past 2 AM in the gym practicing with his new teammates. In a recent interview he mentioned how he has something to prove this year. Sure he has critics that call him out on his leadership (like Magic very recently) and he has some off the court issues that will cause some impact from time to time. And yes he's not a true point guard because of his low assists. But to be honest, I can put all that aside just considering the overall potential he has on this rebuilding team. In fantasy, I'm looking for players to fill up the stat sheet.. I don't really care if they're winning games.
Bold Prediction: Russell averages 25 PPG this season.
Norman Powell
If you're not sure who Norman Powell is it's because he plays North of the border (they get less National TV coverage there). Powell can play the 2 or the 3 and can easily switch to guard the 1 when needed making him very valuable. He plays with a chip on his shoulder and has consistently been improving his game every year (3 point jump shot has been enough evidence for me). I've always considered Powell as someone who would break out once the opportunity presented itself. We saw that this year in how huge he played against the Milwaukee Bucks helping his team advance to the second round. There's two major reasons that have led me to believe this will be Powell's year. The first is the obvious departure of Tucker leaving for the Rockets. And second is the declining play of Demarre Carroll.
Bold Prediction: Powell earns himself the starting SF spot and averages 30+ minutes for the entire season.
Lou Williams
I've been watching Lou light up his opponents for countless years now. He has established himself as a dominant scorer in the NBA and is capable of dropping 30+ any night. He now finds himself on a Clippers roster that has a daunting hole with the departure of CP3. We all know CP3 ran that offence and I really feel like Lou is the best candidate to fill his shoes... Or at least try to with his scoring ability. They play a fast paced offence and have a lot of trust in their guards to make the right decision. My only concern is there might be too many guards along side of Lou with Rivers, Beverley, and newly signed Euro PG Milos Teodosic.
Bold Prediction: Lou averages 18 PPG and 5 APG. Yes he will get assists this season... Have you seen the lobs DeAndre and Blake finish?
Victor Oladipo
My main reasoning as to why Oladipo made my list today is because I believe last year was an anomaly. He found himself in an interesting situation playing with Russell Westbrook who might not be the easiest player to play with. He had a ton of injuries and simply did not live up to the hype. However, I'm not ready to give up on him yet. With the trade of Paul George, there is opportunity in the air. I'm sure Oladipo was envisioning a fresh start with a new team and here he has it. His value has dropped significantly with his poor performance with OKC last year and disappointing fantasy owners all across the globe. But I don't really care because Oladipo is yet to reach his full potential. I know I'm taking him in my drafts especially over players who've shown you what their ceiling is.
Bold Prediction: Oladipo averages 20 PPG 5 APG and 5 RPG.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Rumour has it Hardaway Jr. arrived to New York holding a big duffle bag with a $ on it. The Knicks will spend money on any and everybody just because they can. We saw this last year when they overpaid D Rose and Noah to come join them to create the so called "Super Team". For younger players, usually with a big contract comes the urge to prove to the critics that you're worth of it. Look at DeMar last season and the numbers he put up for Toronto. With Melo about halfway out of the city, it opens up an amazing opportunity for Hardaway Jr. to step up and fill in for the interim period. He will have big shoes to fill, but that also means he will have the ball in his hands a lot of the time. I'm looking for a big fantasy year from this new Knickerbocker especially because he fills up the defensive stats as well.
Bold Prediction: Hardaway Jr. averages 22 PPG and plays good defence too with 1 SPG and 1 BPG.
Thank you all for reading and I hope this helps! If you've enjoyed this please up vote and I can do a few more posts prior to the 2017-2018 NBA Season.